ICAEW grants 100th alternative business structure licence in a year to Essex accountants Tiffin Green November 11, 2015 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has awarded its 100th alternative business structure (ABS) licence, one year since it was granted the power to do so. The lucky recipient was Tiffin Green, a five-partner practice based in Essex with a focus on small and medium businesses. “ICAEW became a regulator and licensing [...]
Barratt Developments shares fall despite 20 per cent jump in sales November 11, 2015 Shares in Barratt Developments fell this morning despite Britain’s biggest housebuilder reporting a strong start to the autumn selling season thanks to “high levels of consumer demand” across all regions. Forward sales (including joint ventures) jumped by 20.7 per cent to £2.5bn across 11,033 plots in the 19 weeks to 8 November compared with £2.07bn [...]
Bank of England’s Open Forum: Osborne warns big bank fines aren’t a thing of the past November 11, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has warned the huge fines levied on some of the world's biggest banks aren't a thing of the past, and will still serve to deter bad behaviour by bankers in the future. "If anyone thinks being unethical in the financial services industry is a good way to make money, I'd suggest they take [...]
Rightmove sees off threat from OnTheMarket.com as it increases market share November 11, 2015 More proof Rightmove is rising above estate agent bickering, after research by analysts Liberum found it's grabbed market share from new rival OnTheMarket.com. It was feared the property portal would be hit by the launch of OnTheMarket in January. One of the conditions of listing on the site, an estate agent-owned mutual designed to increase competition among [...]
AstraZeneca issues $6bn of bonds to fund ZS Pharma acquisition November 11, 2015 AstraZeneca has issued $6bn worth of bonds so that it can finance its acquisition of biotech company ZS Pharma. The British drugmaker said the move would have no material impact on its financial guidance for the year, and that it will help it to meet certain repayment obligations. The bonds will be released in a series [...]
UK house prices: “Just move out of London” – one mortgage site’s solution to Generation Rent’s affordability crisis November 11, 2015 Nowhere has the UK's housing crisis been more potent than in the capital, where a generation of people – dubbed "Generation Rent" – has been priced out of the property market. Now one mortgage site has a solution: go somewhere else. MyLocalMortgage.co.uk reckons if Generation Rent wants "cheaper housing and higher life satisfaction, it should just move out [...]
London house prices: Is the property supply crisis on the rebound? Here’s the top five spots for homes on the market with Wandsworth and Westminster top of the list November 11, 2015 When it comes to London house prices, you have to throw out your notions of supply and demand: it’s all about location, location, location. That’s no huge surprise of course, but what is surprising is the extent to which that’s the case. Wandsworth, the most expensive borough in the capital, actually had the largest number [...]
UK employment rate hits new record high for July to September as wage growth tails off November 11, 2015 The UK's employment rate soared to a new record high in the third quarter of this year, although wage growth appears to be tailing off slightly. There were 31.21m people in work for July to September, pushing the employment rate to 73.7 per cent, the highest since comparable records began in 1971. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 per [...]
Far from being unlucky, home insurance claims actually go down on Friday 13th November 11, 2015 Friday the 13th may have a reputation for being unlucky – but it turns out that doesn't ring true when it comes to household mishaps. Home insurance provider Policy Expert has discovered that claims on home insurance actually go down on the traditional day for bad luck, with claims on some of the most recent Friday 13ths coming [...]
John Lewis opens its first European store as it expands into the Netherlands November 11, 2015 John Lewis may be the chattering classes' favourite department store at home – but so far, it hasn't ventured into Europe. But that's about to change: today the retailer announced plans to open its first European offerings – in the Netherlands. The company said it will open three "shop-in-shops" in de Bijenkorf department stores. The first three [...]